Obama Signs Internationalist Trade Legislation; Enablers Boehner, McConnell Fail to Show at White House Celebration

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President Obama signed hard-fought trade legislation Monday, thanking Republican leaders who helped get it done and saying the package will “reinforce America’s leadership role in the world.”

“I think it’s fair to say that getting these bills through Congress has not been easy,” Mr. Obama said as he signed the trade bills into law in the East Room. “They’ve been declared dead more than once.”

The two major pieces of legislation grant Mr. Obama “fast track” trade-promotion authority, which allows the president to negotiate a deal and submit it to Congress for an up-or-down vote without the chance for amendments, and expand aid for American workers who lose their jobs due to foreign competition. Members of both parties attended the bill-signing ceremony, although Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky did not, with Congress on its Independence Day recess.

The trade-promotion authority measure is arguably the biggest legislative victory of the president’s second term, and will help Mr. Obama conclude negotiations with Japan and 10 other countries on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the centerpiece of his economic agenda. The House and Senate approved both measures last week after House Democrats, including Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California, temporarily derailed the package . . .

The president said trade-promotion authority isn’t “the end of the road” for his efforts, noting that negotiations for the massive TPP are still unfinished. Trading partners have been waiting to see whether Congress granted Mr. Obama the authority to negotiate an agreement that won’t be subject to amendments later. (Read more from “Obama Signs Internationalist Trade Legislation; Boehner, McConnell Miss White House Event” HERE)

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American College of Pediatricians Calls Same-Sex Marriage Ruling ‘a Tragic Day for America’s Children’

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A professional medical society with an avowedly conservative outlook is making no bones about its position on Friday’s Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriage.

In a statement, the president of the American College of Pediatricians called the Obergefell v. Hodges decision a “tragic” one for children.

“This is a tragic day for America’s children,” Dr. Michelle Cretella wrote. “The SCOTUS has just undermined the single greatest pro-child institution in the history of mankind: the natural family. Just as it did in the joint Roe v Wade and Doe v Bolton decisions, the SCOTUS has elevated and enshrined the wants of adults over the needs of children.”

The college said that its research shows that “same-sex marriage deliberately deprives the child of a mother or a father, and is therefore harmful.”

Cretella said it was “disappointing only 4 of the 9 justices heeded the scientific findings” in the amici brief it joined in the Obergefell v. Hodges case that led to the legalization of same sex marriage nationwide . . . HERE)

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Who’s the “Evil Empire” Now? Russia Says It’s Godless America

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At the height of the Cold War, it was common for American conservatives to label the officially atheist Soviet Union a “godless nation.”

More than two decades on, history has come full circle, as the Kremlin and its allies in the Russian Orthodox Church hurl the same allegation at the West.

“Many Euro-Atlantic countries have moved away from their roots, including Christian values,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a recent keynote speech. “Policies are being pursued that place on the same level a multi-child family and a same-sex partnership, a faith in God and a belief in Satan. This is the path to degradation.”

In his state of the nation address in mid-December, Mr. Putin also portrayed Russia as a staunch defender of “traditional values” against what he depicted as the morally bankrupt West. Social and religious conservatism, the former KGB officer insisted, is the only way to prevent the world from slipping into “chaotic darkness.”

As part of this defense of “Christian values,” Russia has adopted a law banning “homosexual propaganda” and another that makes it a criminal offense to “insult” the religious sensibilities of believers. (Read more from “Who’s the “Evil Empire” Now? Russia Says It’s Godless America” HERE)

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Helium Is LEAKING From Massive Earthquake Fault in LA Raising Fears ‘Big One’ Could Be More Devastating Than Thought

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A huge fault in the Earth’s crust near Los Angeles is leaking helium, researchers have found.

They say the unexpected find sheds new light on the Newport-Inglewood Fault Zone in the Los Angeles Basin.

It reveals the fault is far deeper than previously thought, and a quake would be far more devastating.

It follows a report from the U.S. Geological Survey has warned the risk of ‘the big one’ hitting California has increased dramatically.

UC Santa Barbara geologist Jim Boles found evidence of helium leakage from the Earth’s mantle along a 30-mile stretch of the Newport-Inglewood Fault Zone in the Los Angeles Basin. (Read more from “Helium Is LEAKING From Massive Earthquake Fault in LA Raising Fears ‘Big One’ Could Be More Devastating Than Thought” HERE)

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Ex-Federal Agent’s Call to Action: Government Ruling Illegitimately, Time For Civil Disobedience

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When the government rules by illegitimate means, is it legitimate to peacefully stand in defiance and disobey? The answer to this question is a reluctant “yes.”

I have thought about this question for a long time and, as a former police officer and federal agent who pledged his life to upholding and enforcing the law, I take this call to action very seriously.

In a piece out yesterday by Becky Gerritson of the Wetumpka Tea Party, a group victimized by the IRS targeting scandal, she summarizes the despicable behavior of IRS officials since the inception of the congressional inquiry into the targeting scandal. Did you know that the IRS destroyed the backup tapes containing emails written by Lois Lerner and others, seven months AFTER the order to preserve the tapes was given? My life is political activism but, after the torrent of news emanating from the Supreme Court and from the overseas terror attacks, I nearly missed this stunning piece of information. Is this the act of a government worthy of our respect?

Combine this outrageous development in the IRS scandal with the recent Supreme Court rulings declaring that the Court has the power to unilaterally rewrite and reinterpret laws to further a destructive political agenda, and we now have a government free from any constitutional restraint, and American citizens living under the yoke of it. Although none of this happened overnight, the pace by which the liberty train is speeding away from the station is rapidly accelerating.

Fighting back strictly through the political process has proven to be effective only in delaying the day of reckoning and it is now clear that we must take from the new political aristocracy what they crave most: legitimacy and acceptance. We must pursue parallel tracks for change to restrain this out-of-control government both through the formal political process and public action.

If the far Left and their political overseers deem it appropriate to weaponize the IRS to assault their political opponents – to attack Christians for the sincere exercise of their religious beliefs, to use the machine of government to force free American citizens, against their will, to spend their limited financial resources to purchase government sanctioned health insurance at the expense of the health of themselves and their families, and to bankrupt the nation through a mathematically certain tax-and-spend formula for misery – then it’s time to consider open defiance to take back what has been lost.

It is time to fully embrace an Article V Convention of the States to reestablish the powers of the states and re-impose clear limits on the growing federal monolith. Former Reagan administration official, conservative activist, and popular radio show host Mark Levin has been passionately advocating for this approach since the release of his bestselling book The Liberty Amendments.

The far Left worships at the altar of inescapable federal power because they fully understand that when states act as separate incubators of policy, that Americans will choose economic, healthcare, religious, and educational freedom. And the resulting exodus from deep blue states anchored to an anti-liberty approach will discredit their agenda and destroy the patina of a public imprimatur and their false air of legitimacy. Federal power prevents an easy escape from the far Left agenda and subjects all Americans to their destructive agenda, regardless of how much they resist. And, while I appreciate the passionate advocacy opposing a convention on the grounds that it could result in a “runaway convention,” I counter by asserting that we are already living with a government engaging in a de facto ongoing constitutional convention by ignoring the plain language of the law and the Constitution to impose an increasingly liberal agenda which is dissolving individual liberty and freedom.

Secondly, the likelihood of 38 states ratifying a radical amendment is low given the current political power of the Republican Party. As the Supreme Court made clear with their recent rulings on Obamacare, marriage, and housing, the country is already free from its constitutional moorings and is charting a dangerous new course towards rule by men, not law. History has proven, without question, that when government by discretion, rather than by law is allowed to continue unchallenged, that the result is a dangerous concentration of power in a zero sum battle for freedom.

In the short-run, now is the time for peaceful and responsible civil disobedience. The Obama administration has been engaging in non-civil, and constitutional disobedience for many years now through their usurpation of power and their weaponizing of the tools of government. And, with a largely feckless response from a frightened and shell-shocked Republican Congress, it is up to conservatives to blaze the trail forward. If our elected Republican leadership refuses to lead, then we will demonstrate to their timid souls what bravery and sacrifice look like.

It is now incumbent upon conservatives to take every opportunity to respectfully and peacefully protest the attacks on our liberty and freedom. When told to sit down at town hall meetings, refuse to do so until your questions are answered. Continue to boldly question the politicians supporting this new post-constitutional path forward even as you are dragged out in protest.

As a Secret Service agent I witnessed firsthand the power of a small group, unafraid of the legal consequences, to influence and change policy by refusing to be silenced. Pastors and spiritual leaders need to stand in defiance of the ongoing attacks on people of faith and speak boldly and proudly. Let the government further discredit itself by asking an already discredited IRS to silence the millions of American voices of faith crying out to be left alone by the power-hungry, Washington DC cocktail party crowd.

When I walked away from a position I loved as a special agent with the United States Secret Service I left behind a lifetime of financial security to fight back by running for office. I didn’t prevail but I never gave up that fight and when my wife and I, as a result of our decision to walk away, came across difficult financial times we knew the sacrifice was worth it.

Faith teaches us that sacrifice is the only ticket to the second creation and we are all going to have to sacrifice something. Small acts of disobedience in the face of the existential threats we face to our constitutional republic are a small price to pay to defend the most blessed and prosperous country in mankind’s history. We were gifted this country by prior generations who sacrificed their lives, limbs and treasures to ensure we remain that shining light on the hill. It’s up to us to ensure that the light never dims. (“Is It Time for Civil Disobedience?”, originally posted HERE)

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9 Bigger Threats Than the Confederate Flag [+video]

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It says something about the ethos of a ruling class oligarchy and fringe media that a tragedy can be exploited for a political agenda. It speaks volumes that this same ruling class can mobilize for an inquisition against all memories of Confederate generals who have been dead for over 100 years but are completely indifferent to a number of existential threats facing our nation today.

Here are 9 threats that are more current and consequential than the dead confederacy, yet the media has barely covered these issues and the political class has no intent to address them.

1. Obama Releasing Terrorists: One after another, Obama is releasing the most dangerous Al Qaeda terrorists to other countries. The rate of recidivism of these terrorists returning to the battle field is exceedingly high and their release will irrevocably diminish our intelligence capabilities.

2. Obama Negotiating with Terrorists: Earlier this week, Obama announced that he is essentially codifying the Bowe Bergdahl policy of negotiating with terrorists. He will allow families to pay ransom for release of family members held in captivity by terror groups. This policy will permanently endanger all Americans abroad by incentivizing terrorists to kidnap more Americans with the confidence that their actions will further their agenda and help fund their terror operations.

3. China’s One-sided War Against America – China is continuing to build islands in the international waters of the South China Sea without any response from this president. To make matters worse, the administration has taken no action against China for waging a cyber war and accessing records of nearly all federal government employees for a year. In fact, they have covered up the security breach for months.

4. Obama’s Iran Love-Fest: Obama’s alliance with Iran becomes more outrageous by the day. He has all but guaranteed them relief of all sanctions plus a $50 billion signing bonus to continue every aspect of their nuclear program, ballistic missile expansion, proliferation of terrorism, and regional hegemony. He is doing immutable damage by siding with them in every geo-political conflict, even as it relates to allies like Israel and the Kurds. The latest insanity, according to AP, is that the P5+1 nations will actually give Iran “high-tech reactors and other state-of-the-art equipment,” as part of the deal!

5. U.S. Blood and Arms for Hezbollah: Obama is arming, protecting, and offering air cover for Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iraq, the very terrorists responsible for the deaths of over 1,000 American soldiers. Obama has sent 3,500 soldiers back into Iraq with no mission other than to share a base with Hezbollah and bail Iranian-backed Shiite militias out of their fight with IS.
With the amount of influence the Muslim Brotherhood wields over this president, and his efforts to empower them both at home and in the Middle East, Congress has an immediate responsibility to designate them as a terror group.

6. Muslim Brotherhood: Dead confederate generals cannot hurt us but live Islamic terrorists most certainly can. As Mark Levin pointed out earlier this week, while the Left is contriving an emergency controversy over the Confederate flag, Obama met with two anti-Israel figures associated with the Muslim Brotherhood. With the amount of influence the Muslim Brotherhood wields over this president, and his efforts to empower them both at home and in the Middle East, Congress has an immediate responsibility to designate them as a terror group. Where are the cries of outrage while this man offends America as a whole by coddling terrorists who hate America now as opposed to controversial symbols from 150 years ago?

7. Homegrown Terror: With the rapid rise of Muslim immigration and the proliferation of radical Mosques in America funded by the Muslim Brotherhood and Saudi or Turkish governments, the threat of Islamic terror to America is most manifest now in homegrown terror. Every week more Muslims are arrested for attempting to fight for the Islamic State, and the FBI is monitoring cases in all 50 states. According to a new poll commissioned by the Center for Security Policy, 51% of Muslims in America believe “Muslims in America should have the choice of being governed according to sharia.” Twenty-nine percent agree that violence against those who insult Mohammad is acceptable and 25% agree that violence against America can be justified as part of Global Jihad. Among males under the age of 45 that number rises to 36%. Twenty-nine percent of males under 45 believe that violence against America is justified in order to make Sharia the law of the land. With an estimated 3 million Muslims in this country (projected to triple by 2050), that could mean there are hundreds of thousands of radicalized ones.

Yet, appallingly, the liberal media is out with a meme that “white Americans” are the biggest terror threat. No wonder they want to focus on a defunct flag instead of the ubiquitous Islamic threat at hand.

8. Obama’s Embrace of Cuba: Right at the time when the Castro regime was deteriorating, resulting from the collapse of their Venezuela ally, Obama is tossing them a lifeline and lifting sanctions. At the same time, Cuba has reciprocated the favor by refusing to repatriate their criminal aliens from our country. Some of them, as reported by the Boston Globe, are the worst of the worst violent criminals. Yet, Obama has taken no action to cut off visas from Cuba, as mandated by law.

9. 170,000 Criminal Aliens in Our Communities: There is perhaps no greater or more imminent threat to this country than the tens of thousands of criminal aliens that are being released into our communities every year. Congress continues to sit idly by as this president bans law enforcement officers from detaining and deporting even some of the most violent criminals who should never be in this country to begin with.

Oh yes, but…the Confederate Flag!!!

There is a national emergency to address every one of these issues right now, yet there is a hysterical focus on uprooting the memory of the Civil War from every memorial in this country. Perhaps this juxtaposition more than any other observation best describes the decedent state of affairs among the political elite.

It should be noted that House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), or RNC Chairman Reince Priebus have not released a press release on any one of these national emergencies Evidently, shameless identity politics pandering trumps national security. (“9 Bigger Threats Than the Confederate Flag”, originally posted HERE)

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Internal Docs Reveal Obama Fraud: Feds Predicted Surge of Illegals Even Though Obama Feigned Surprise, Demanded Billions to Address

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By Paul Bedard. Despite claims the administration was caught off guard, the White House and four Cabinet departments predicted last year’s surge of at least 60,000 illegal juveniles over the U.S.-Mexico border and expect it to more than double to 127,000 this year, according to an internal document.

A 24-page administration PowerPoint for congressional appropriators dated April 22, 2014 bluntly stated that border arrivals of “unaccompanied alien children” would rise “by nearly a factor of 10” in 2014 to 60,000 and jump to 127,000 “if these growth rates continue.” It is shown below.

Indications are that this year’s surge won’t meet that record number, but will be the second highest in recent history.

The document and accompanying graphs, provided by congressional sources, also set a price tag of $2 billion “to accommodate” the juveniles, some members of the MS-13 crime gang, this year.

The briefing counters claims by top federal officials that they didn’t see the surge coming last year. President Obama called it an “urgent humanitarian situation” in seeking nearly $4 billion, and a top aide said it “was much larger than we anticipated.” (Read more from “Revealed: Feds Predicted Surge of Illegals, See This Many More in 2015” HERE)

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Undocumented Sex Offenders Left in Seattle-Area Neighborhoods Without Tracking

By KIRO 7 Staff. After digging through hundreds of ZIP codes, KIRO 7 found 11 convicted sex offenders in the country illegally living across western Washington neighborhoods.

The government has tried to deport most of these people, but a Supreme Court ruling requires they be released after six months in jail, if their home country won’t take them back.

KIRO 7 obtained sources through the Senate Judiciary Committee: a list of every ZIP code in the country that some offender called home at the time of release. (Read more from this story HERE)

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The World Is Defenseless Against the Next Financial Crisis, Warns BIS

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The world will be unable to fight the next global financial crash as central banks have used up their ammunition trying to tackle the last crises, the Bank of International Settlements has warned.

The so-called central bank of central banks launched a scatching critique of global monetary policy in its annual report. The BIS claimed that central banks have backed themselves into a corner after repeatedly cutting interest rates to shore up their economies.

These low interest rates have in turn fuelled economic booms, encouraging excessive risk taking. Booms have then turned to busts, which policymakers have responded to with even lower rates.

Claudio Borio, head of the organisation’s monetary and economic department, said: “Persistent exceptionally low rates reflect the central banks’ and market participants’ response to the unusually weak post-crisis recovery as they fumble in the dark in search of new certainties” . . .

Extraordinarily low interest rates are not a “new equilibrium” said Jaime Caruana, general manager of the BIS, rejecting the theory of so-called “secular stagnation” which some economists blame for the continued decline in global lending rates. (Read more from “The World Is Defenceless Against the Next Financial Crisis, Warns BIS” HERE)

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Texas Liberals Sign Petition to Remove ‘Racist’ George Washington Statue and That’s Not All [+video]

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By Paul Joseph Watson. Liberals at the University of Texas signed a petition to remove a statue of George Washington and memorials to other founding fathers in another illustration of the politically correct insanity that has emerged in the wake of the Charleston massacre.

Students at the University have started an actual petition to remove statues of Robert E. Lee, the commander of the Confederate army, and Albert Sidney Johnston, a Confederate general who died during the Civil War, remarking, “It is impossible to reach the full potential of an inclusive and progressive learning institution while putting an idol of our darkest days on a pedestal.”

Black Lives Matter protesters also vandalized the statues earlier this week.

Given the fact that America’s Commander-in-Chief during the revolutionary war against the British and first President George Washington owned slaves his entire life and only emancipated them after his death, would UT students also support a move to wipe Washington from the pages of history?

The answer is yes, many of them would. (Read more from “Texas Liberals Sign Petition to Remove ‘Racist’ George Washington Statue” HERE)

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Texas Schools Jump on Bandwagon to Dump Historic Confederate Ties

By Merrill Hope. Texas public schools are jumping on the bandwagon to shun symbols and dump historical figures that memorialize the Confederate South in a politicized push around the state that follows the tragic hate crime shooting of nine African-American church parishioners during a Bible study in Charleston, SC.

On Thursday, Rhonda Skillern-Jones, school board president for the nation’s seventh largest school district, Houston Independent School District (ISD), called for renaming six campuses that bear the names of Confederate army officers and others associated with the Confederacy. District Superintendent Terry Grier is “strongly considering” recommending that the board do it, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Previously, Texas state Sen. Rodney Ellis (D-Houston) urged Skillern-Jones in a letter to rebrand those six campuses, which are Dowling Middle School, named for Richard Dowling, a Confederate army officer; Jackson Middle School, named for Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, the brigadier general in the Confederate army; Davis High School, named for Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States of America; Johnston Middle School, named for Albert Sidney Johnson, a Confederate army general; Lee High School, named for Confederate army commander Robert E. Lee; and Reagan High School, named for the postmaster general and the Confederacy’s secretary of the treasury John H. Reagan.

Houston ISD student population is largely Hispanic and African-American but in the aforementioned schools, the students are predominantly Hispanic, notes the Chronicle.

Calls for change do not come cheap. Last year, it cost Houston ISD about $250,000 to transform the Lamar Redskins into the Lamar Texans, according to KTRK-13. This included costs for changing mascot names, team uniforms, related spirit, pride and booster branded materials. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Christian Farm Family Penalized in Gay Wedding Refusal Cites ‘Orchestrated Set-Up’

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By Valerie Richardson. When Melisa Erwin called the Giffords about using their upstate New York property for a same-sex wedding ceremony, she apparently knew in advance that they would refuse. For one thing, she and her fiancee recorded the conversation.

Even so, an administrative judge with the New York State Division of Human Rights ordered the Giffords to pay $3,000 to Ms. Erwin and Jennifer McCarthy for “mental pain and suffering,” in addition to $10,000 for violating the state’s human rights ordinance.

In a brief filed Thursday, attorneys for Cynthia and Robert Gifford argue that the state’s ruling violates the First Amendment, but they also criticize the same-sex couple for what they describe as an “orchestrated set-up.”

“The evidence, however, indicates that Respondents were aware of the Giffords’ beliefs and chose specifically to call and record Mrs. Gifford for the purposes of documenting the Giffords’ policy,” said the brief filed by attorneys with Alliance Defending Freedom.

“Such an orchestrated set-up can hardly form the basis for ‘mental anguish’ and suffering,” said the brief, which was submitted to the New York Supreme Court. (Read more Christian Farm Family Penalized in Gay Wedding Refusal Decries ‘Orchestrated Set-Up’ HERE)

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Idaho City’s Ordinance Tells Pastors to Marry Gays or Go to Jail

By Cheryl K. Chumley. Coeur d‘Alene, Idaho, city officials have laid down the law to Christian pastors within their community, telling them bluntly via an ordinance that if they refuse to marry homosexuals, they will face jail time and fines.

The dictate comes on the heels of a legal battle with Donald and Evelyn Knapp, ordained ministers who own the Hitching Post wedding chapel in the city, but who oppose gay marriage, The Daily Caller reported.

A federal judge recently ruled that the state’s ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional, while the city of Coeur d‘Alene has an ordinance that prevents discrimination based on sexual preference.

The Supreme Court’s recent refusal to take on gay rights’ appeals from five states has opened the doors for same-sex marriages to go forth.

The Knapps were just asked by a gay couple to perform their wedding ceremony, The Daily Caller reported. (Read more from “Idaho City’s Ordinance Tells Pastors to Marry Gays or Go to Jail” HERE)

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